Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and will affect more than 10 per cent of Canadian women in their lifetime, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Although breast cancer rates are higher in individuals over the age of 50, it can still present itself in young adults and middle-aged women — a demographic neglected by routine screenings.
The Alberta Thermography and Women's Holistic Clinic in St. Albert hopes to change this by offering thermography to a whole new demographic.
"Breast cancer takes about 20 to 30 years to develop. At the rate in which cancer cells multiply, divide and grow, for it be to able to be seen on a mammogram takes about nine years," said Danielle Thomas, registered nurse and certified thermographic technician. "With thermography, we are able to see between six and eight years in advance of a mammogram."
Both thermography and mammography are used to detect abnormalities in the breasts.
Thermography uses a medical-grade infrared camera to measure the heat units emitted from skin in a temperature-controlled setting. Pre-cancerous or cancerous cells will emit more heat as a result of increased blood flow compared to healthy, undamaged cells.
The thermographic images are sent to board-certified clinical thermographers in Toronto who analyze them to determine the risk of breast cancer for that individual. Based on the results, Thomas will recommend a time frame for repeat screenings, which could be as often as every six months.
"It's not a diagnostic tool," she said. "We use it as an adjunctive tool to an ultrasound or to a mammogram."
Mammography is the most common screening test used to detect breast cancer and requires breasts to be placed between two plastic plates that are flattened before a low-dose X-ray takes a series of images.
It is primarily used for individuals over 50 years old, with women between 40 and 50 requiring a doctor referral based on increased risk factors, says Alberta Health Services.
Thermography has no age restrictions and is a non-invasive, radiation-free, pain-free and hands-off procedure.
Target audience
Thomas recommends women begin regular screening in their 20s, especially if they have family members who have been diagnosed. This early screening could lead to early detection, which can lead to a better overall prognosis.
"We're looking at things almost when it's too late rather than starting to think about the health of our breasts and the health of our tissue at the time that the hormones are really important," she said.
Thomas said she would like to see more young females taking control of their breast health and becoming educated on the risks associated with breast cancer.
"I think it's important to worry about this right from day one," Thomas said. "As mothers, we should be worrying about this for our children and as our children grow, we should be worried about it for their children."
She said it is more important now – more than it ever has been – for young individuals to become invested in their health.
She said people are exposed to various risk factors for breast cancer at a younger age, including less physical activity, consumption of high-fat foods, exposure to estrogen-laden foods and products as well as earlier usage of birth control pills.
Women and girls prescribed birth control pills are at a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer, Thomas said.
"Even the lowest dose of birth control pill contains four times the amount of estrogen that the body would naturally produce," she said. "Most breast cancers are estrogen-receptor fed, so they feed on high levels of estrogen," she said.
Clinic origins
Thomas, who also works as a part-time nurse at the Sturgeon Community Hospital, started the clinic in January 2012 after recognizing a significant gap in women's health resources.
"I've started this thermography clinic and women's health clinic on the premise of educating women," she said. "My purpose is to get good quality information delivered even just to one person and have that one person relay that information to her family, her daughter, her mother, her aunt or her sister."
She said education is a primary component that is currently lacking, which is why most women are unaware of thermography used for breast screenings.
The Alberta Thermography and Women's Holistic Clinic services the greater Edmonton area with breast, cranial and full-body imaging and provides mobile clinics to remote areas in northern Alberta and surrounding provinces.
Thermography screenings start at $250 and are not currently covered by Alberta Health.
"We are working very diligently to try to get this coverage by Alberta Health and accessible to women of all ages and financial brackets, but it is a slow process," Thomas said.
Some extended benefit plans will cover thermography, as will health-spending accounts.
For more information on thermography or the clinic, visit www.albertathermographyclinic.com.
